Introduction to Resilience Skills
Staying in the Resilient Zone or “OK” Zone helps the person you support to keep working on their goals. But how do they know where they are in their Resilient or “OK” zone? And what can they do if they are moved out of their zone?
Resilience skills are things that can help the person you support:
- Know where they are in their zone.
- Stay in their zone.
- Get back into their zone if they are moved out of it.
It will take time and practice to learn how to use these skills to become more resilient. The more they practice using these skills, the wider their resilient zone will become and the more they will be able to manage stress and challenges.
These skills can be used alone or together to help them stay in or get back into their resilient zone. These are the different resilience skills:
Tracking:
This skill helps someone figure out where they are in the resilient zone by paying attention to their thoughts and senses.
Resourcing:
This skill can help when someone is near the edge of their resilient zone or if they’ve been bumped out of it, by paying attention to memories, people, places, things, and ideas that help them feel better.
Grounding:
This is a good skill to use when someone is having trouble staying in their resilient zone by paying attention to things that are around them at the moment.
Gesturing:
This is another skill someone can use to help move themselves away from the edges of their resilient zone by paying attention to their movements and using gestures to help them relax.
Shift and Stay:
This skill is a powerful way to help someone stay in their resilient zone by learning to shift their own thoughts away from things that are bothering them to stay on neutral or happier thoughts.
Help Now!:
This is a skill that can be used if someone is stuck outside their resilient zone. These strategies focus on calming their body and bringing them closer to their resilient zone.
This information was developed by the Autism Services, Education, Resources, and Training Collaborative (ASERT). For more information, please contact ASERT at 877-231-4244 or info@PAautism.org. ASERT is funded by the Bureau of Supports for Autism and Special Populations, PA Department of Human Services.